I always find that when I buy a wargame I usually wind up buying several books to read while I play the game. I find that reading about the battle or war in question makes the game very real to me. And by gaming the battle it allows me to better understand what was involved for the combatants. In addition, I find that you also learn a great deal about history.
I have found that some of the best discussions about military history take place on wargame forums Wargamers have to be among some of the best informed people on historical and military subjects that it has been my pleasure to meet.
Well, Matrix has done it to me again. Just knowing that "The Wars of Napoleon" and "War in the Pacific" are going to be released within the next couple of months drew me back to the bookstore today.
I bought two excellent hardcover books. They are part of "The Cassell History of Warfare" collection. The books in question are:
1)"The Napoleonic Wars" by Gunther Rothenberg
2) "The Second World War in the East" by H.P. Willmott. The title is a misnomer - it's actually about the entire war in the Pacific.
Both hardcover books come with very colourful pictures and very detailed maps showing the strategies, battles, formations, tactics, as well as the history of the struggle. They are books that would please the military historian in all us.
Now all I need are the wargames to play
Does this happen to you as well? Have you read some interesting books too?
------------------
A King Tiger can give you a definite edge...
Has anyone here read the book Stalingrad?It came out last year.I usually HATE reading books but this is the only book I've really read without quitting.I read through it in about 3 days.Everything in this book is intresting.Everyone should read this book.Go out and get it now.
"The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer.
I was inspired to write a book review on this one for a college history class.
(Got an A+) This is a must read for
anyone interested in a unique story
of a 17 year old Alsacian (hope I spelled
that right) who ended up on the Russian
front.
Originally posted by Von Rom: I always find that when I buy a wargame I usually wind up buying several books to read while I play the game. I find that reading about the battle or war in question makes the game very real to me. And by gaming the battle it allows me to better understand what was involved for the combatants. In addition, I find that you also learn a great deal about history.
I have found that some of the best discussions about military history take place on wargame forums Wargamers have to be among some of the best informed people on historical and military subjects that it has been my pleasure to meet.
Well, Matrix has done it to me again. Just knowing that "The Wars of Napoleon" and "War in the Pacific" are going to be released within the next couple of months drew me back to the bookstore today.
I bought two excellent hardcover books. They are part of "The Cassell History of Warfare" collection. The books in question are:
1)"The Napoleonic Wars" by Gunther Rothenberg
2) "The Second World War in the East" by H.P. Willmott. The title is a misnomer - it's actually about the entire war in the Pacific.
Both hardcover books come with very colourful pictures and very detailed maps showing the strategies, battles, formations, tactics, as well as the history of the struggle. They are books that would please the military historian in all us.
Now all I need are the wargames to play
Does this happen to you as well? Have you read some interesting books too?
Greg.
It is better to die on your feet
than to live on your knees.
Id like to support Greg's reccomendation concerning Forgotten Soldier. It certainly shows many of the inadequacies of the mighty German war machine on the Russian front later in the war. its a pity the campaign game can't reflect this more accurately.
Reading warbooks is my biggest hobby! I have to second (third?) the comment about The Forgotten Soldier. Apparently there is some controversy about whether Sajer made the whole thing up, but I have to say that even if he did it is still a GREAT warbook. And IMO it has the ring of truth to it.
A book I just finished reading a couple weeks ago is Donald Burgett's Seven Roads to Hell. He was a paratrooper and the book is about the Battle of the Bulge. Good stuff, and is available in a $6.50 paperback format right now.
If you are interested in warbooks, I have compiled a small online list of great books, with reviews and excerpts. You can visit my website, The Literate Hussar: http://members.xoom.com/KCurow/hussar/index.html
And I would love to have some submissions of reviews along the same format, if anyone gets the bug after visiting the site. I'm actually going to update the site in a little while, to get rid of the frames...
And this isn't advertising, since I don't make any money off the site.
Later,
KC
The closer you are to Caesar, the greater the fear.
If I could recommend one, try Richard Overy's WHY THE ALLIES WON, it gives you lots of food for though on the big picture of WWII, and how the'Materials War' was fought..
Another interesting one is By R.O. also entitled Russias war good overview of the logistics of the Great Patriotic War.
I am reading INVASION THEY ARE COMING! by Paul Carel, an interesting look at D-Day from the German perspective..
Originally posted by Jab: Has anyone here read the book Stalingrad?It came out last year.I usually HATE reading books but this is the only book I've really read without quitting.I read through it in about 3 days.Everything in this book is intresting.Everyone should read this book.Go out and get it now.
I completely agree. I read Stalingrad earlier this year and it's one of the best books I've ever read. I couldn't put it down until I'd finished it either, Jab.
It's one of those books that covers the wider picture one moment then can zoom right in on the minutiae. It involves the human elements of the battle but still manages to keep it's objectivity as a history book while at the same time reading almost like a novel.
Everyone can learn something from this book. Go ye to Amazon and order it. You won't regret it.
-------------------------
"There is nothing more
exhilarating than being
shot at without result"
- Winston Churchill
Has anyone read "A War to be Won"? It came out fairly recently in hardcover and got some good reviews. Just curious for someone's opinion on it, before I shell out the bucks (well, the D-Marks) for it.
The closer you are to Caesar, the greater the fear.
Oh, no - after reading about some of your book selections - I'm getting the urge to go visit my bookstore again
There is an excellent 3 volume biography on Erwin Rommel that I have read at least three times. It's a gripping, fast-moving, action-filled story that combines great insight into the man's military genius, his tactics, and legendary tank battles. The stories of his battles will keep you glued to your seat. You almost feel like you are there on the battlefield. It is often difficult to find a writer that has that quality of narration. It's one of those books that you will find yourself reading, again and again:
(1) "Triumphant Fox"; (2) "Rommel's Desert War"; and (3) "Rommel's Last Battle", by Samuel W. Mitcham. Jr. (Jove Books, N.Y., 1991). ***** (5 stars).
If you can find these books - buy them They make excellent reading while playing Steel Panthers: World at War.
------------------
A King Tiger can give you a definite edge...
Take a look at The Military Book Review (www.themilitarybookreview.com). Among the most recent books we have reviewed are "Carrier Strike," "Flawed Victory," "Inside Hitler's High Command" and "Two Sides of the Beach."
I liked The Fall of the Third Republic by William Shire. Its a very readable book about the fall of France.
I also liked any book by Sven Hassel (comrades of war, SS General). He was a dane who ended up in the Wehremacht panzertruppen. His first book was a graphic semi-autobiographical account of armored warfare from a soldiers view told as a novel. It was successful so he continuted the characters (including some who died in the first book) in a series of historical fictional novels.
------------------
An old soldier but not yet a faded one.
OK, maybe just a bit faded.
For those interested in scenario design or reading about scenarios that have been designed, I have a small list of books that are constant sources for me. Here it is.
Books for Ideas for Scenarios – Combat Mission
The US Army in World War II Series, publisher: US Govt Printing Office
Some 25 volumes. Every amateur historian and scenario designer should have the complete set. Nothing better.
GENERAL
There’s a War to be Won, Perret
Delivered from Evil, Leckie
Heroes of World War II, Murphy
Battles and Battlescenes from WW2
Daring to Win, Eshel
Bravery in Battle, Eshel
Tank Aces, Zumbro
Tank Aces, Forty
Iron Cavalry, Zumbro
Tank Commanders, Forty
Clash of Chariots, Donnely and Naylor
These are for the Western Front, 1944-45. I have other lists for East Front, Pacific and Mediterranean. Enough for a start...
D-Day
Operation Overlord Series (4), Order of Battle, Christopher Chant, editor
Swords and Plowshares, Maxwell D. Taylor
The 101st Airborne at Normandy, Bando
Band of Brothers, Ambrose
Overlord, Hastings
D-Day, Ambrose
NORMANDY
Panzertruppen II, Jentz
Churchill’s Desert Rats-Normandy to Berlin, Delaforce
Invasion! They’re Coming, Carell
Panzers in Normandy, Then and Now, Lefevre
Normandy, Essame
Death Traps, Cooper
Beyond the Beachhead, Balkoski
Six Armies in Normandy, Keegan
Steel Inferno, Reynolds
The 12th SS Panzer Division, Walther
The Blood Soaked Soil, Williamson
Hell on Wheels, Houston
Strike Swiftly, Jensen
FRANCE
The View from the Turret, Folkestad
St. Lo, Us Army Historical Division
The Clay Pigeons of St. Lo, Johns
Against the Panzers, Karamales
MARKET GARDEN-WEST WALL
Operation Dragoon, Bruer
Death of a Nazi Army, Bruer
August, 1944, Miller
A Bridge too Far, Ryan
Division Commander, Miller
THE ARDENNES
A Dark and Bloody Ground, Miller
Battle of the Bulge, Parker
Bastogne, the First Eight Days, Marshall
Hitler’s Last Gamble, Dupuy
The Devil’s Adjutant, Reynolds
A Time for Trumpets, MacDonald
A Blood Dimmed Tide, Astor
Bastogne and the Ardennes Offensive, Arend
FINAL BATTLES
Battle of the Ruhr Pocket, Whiting
One More River, Allen
These have all proven to be a big help to me.
------------------
In Arduis Fidelis
Wild Bill Wilder
Coordinator, Scenario Design
Matrix Games
In Arduis Fidelis
Wild Bill Wilder
Independent Game Consultant
I liked 'Panzer Commander' and there was a book whose title I don't recall which described Das Reich's involvement in the war, which was interesting. I believe, the book 'Desert Fox' (I think that was the title) was written by the man who saluted Rommel in the Desert Fox movie, which was definitely an interesting book.
I'm currently reading a mega-book called 'Russia at War' by Alexander Werth (some 1100 pages). A comment by William Shirer says, "Magnificent...the best book we shall probably ever see in English on Russia at war!"
I have a couple of interesting quotes I just read today at lunch, pg. 268 (this was the winter of '41) "With the Germans mostly dug in, and the Russians advancing, the conditions created by a particularly harsh winter ultimately affected the Russians more than it did the Germans."
Also...pg. 270 "On the whole the Red Army also lacked large mechanised and armoured units, which greatly reduced the troops' striking force and the speed of their advance; the Germans, on the contrary, used concentrated tank formations in their counter-attacks, even in the winter conditions of 1941-2."
Originally posted by Michael Peck: Take a look at The Military Book Review (www.themilitarybookreview.com). Among the most recent books we have reviewed are "Carrier Strike," "Flawed Victory," "Inside Hitler's High Command" and "Two Sides of the Beach."
Wargamers have to be among some of the best informed people on historical and military subjects that it has been my pleasure to meet.
